Girl Power :)

(warning, sort of a rant/strand of run-on sentences ahead) So the show 'Girl Code' got me thinking... about many things really, because it's awesomely hilarious, but one that popped into my head stuck with me. I think we (women) have a lot of pressure riding on us holding our shit together. I sit here and I'm watching this show, which I haven't done in a while.. like actually sat down and watched TV at this hour during the week because usually I'm running to the gym or to meet someone for dinner or cooking meals for the next day (which i really should be doing in this case btw)... but when I don't give myself days to slow down and just chill, I get too wound up. So anyway here I am just vegging out,  sitting and watching TV, (not even having a glass of wine mind you!!) and I'm thinking ... There are times I feel so exhausted and busy and my life feels pretty full most times and I realize there are women that do what i do, and have a husband, and 2 kids, and maybe even a friggin dog, and etc etc and they have to cook dinner  and on and on... and it's like jimminy cricket people! When does it end? I'm not trying to be sexist at all, even though this will sound that way, but to be a home maker/mom and be awesome at that is one thing, (and admirable too, i will add) and then to do the working full time thing and having a social life and all the other day to day keeping fit, etc. is another thing that takes arguably equal effort or is just as exhuasting... and then there's the feeling for women who try to do both...!! There is some sort of a stigma in place, that I too am a victim of, that makes me feel inferior if I'm not doing it all and doing it well and always on top of my game. I mean, I dont have a husband and kids and all that, I just have my one job that consists of my 12 hour week days with this long commute and then I have my week nights where I try to always be working out and or be social enough to go on a date for goodness sake, and etc. but there's always like this cloud that hangs over my head with a voice saying, "hey you should probably be cooking your dinner//lunch for the next couple days and doing this plus a b & c... and if you can't handle that then you suck girrrrrrrllllll" ya the voice in my head often adds twang and exaggerative syllables...

Anyway the point I'm trying to make is that women are awesome.  I may be a bit biased since I am one but I just think we pull off way more than men or at least we're kind of expected to without flinching(unofficially)--and we do pull it off because we're awesome but we also all need to give ourselves a little more credit sometimes.  It's okay to take a moment or two off from doing wonder woman-like things every now and then!

Cheers girls!!

Photo of the day:

Although this is a MAN and I just went on about girls and women...it still represents strength and beauty and confidence to me so it seems fitting. This guy is like the leader of the germans in Chicago... or something important, I may be way off, but he (as most statues do) just seems so strong and confident and sure of where his life is going doesn't he? I think maybe we could all follow in this guys footsteps in some way... haha but maybe not by letting a giant bird come perch on your knee.

"Just go where the wind blows..."

Lyric I picked up on today and am now currently in love with:"I just wanna have a goood time, can't I have fun for the rest of my life? just go where the wind blows" I feel like it translates well for how I'm feeling with my life at the moment. When things are moving at a busy pace and I've got good times rolling one after the other everything just seems so intensely satisfying. I don't want the good times to stop. But we all have to take breaks sometimes (obviously right?) and come back to reality and face our responsibilities....When those times occur I usually sense a small lull in myself. Things feel too slow paced, almost boring. But I'm trying to learn that instead of seeing this as a negative thing, to instead embrace these moments to rest, recharge, listen to my body, listen to my mind and let it guide what step I take next. I need to take more of these moments in fact. It's important to make sure you feel secure on your own... I knew this...but haven't always acted on it.

In other news of recent advice I've been given on this funky feeling day... I was telling my friend that lives in Cali that I was in a bit of a sour mood and asked him if he could brighten my day at all (he alwayyyys seems to be in a 'sunny' mood). He told me, "It doesn't take much to make me happy. You see, the trick to being cheaply amused is to find one thing good about your day and love the hell out of it."
Instantly it clicked with me. I feel I often let the day to day grind and routine prevail over the small details and many of those little things that often are quite enough to make a day a good one. There's got to be at least one thing about everyone's day that was good. Unless you're a total pessimist in which case you've got bigger problems, bud. It's easy to tune out the good and dwell on the bad. But if you work at it just a little to fight that tide and change your focus to those positive things, you'll find yourself in a much better place.
So I hope if anything you take away a small piece of good, or hope, or happiness on with you to wherever you're heading next. :)
And here's a photo that I feel breeds beauty in its serenity:

A view from the gardens of Chicago :)

Feelin the Good Vibrations

Wow! So this is really hard keeping up with this. I initially had in mind to post to this once a day and look at how this is slipping away from me already! I guess it would help if I travelled everywhere taking my laptop with me... which I don't. And it would also help if during my friggin' long (usually stressful) commute home from work, I could document during that time. I always wish I had a good old fashioned (tape?) recorder to get it all out in the moment...right when it all makes sense in my head. But alas, here I am... at the end of a busy day trying to remember all of it.
I will go back on my most recent weekend though for a minute here. It ended up being a reminder to me that this journey I'm on NEVER ceases to amuse and/or surprise me. I feel luckier and more blessed than ever to have the family and friends that I do in my life. Even after just having another birthday go buy (in which I turned a "YOUNG" 27) I feel like I'm stilllll always learning through every experience I come across. I accept that there are always going to be bad days and minor setbacks but I choose to look at each of these as more of lessons that have made me wiser (ya get that with age right?!) The more I look around and see--or on the contrary, the more I stop to observe, the more beauty I see all around me.
This weekend also reminded me to keep and stay focused on my ambition and let that be the guiding factor in my life right now. I've accomplished some of my goals but I've also set new ones. I've also still not reached a couple that are still attainable (like when in high school joking with my friends that there would be a day I'd be driving a white beemer and carrying a briefcase around). But the good news is, there's still plenty of time for that!
It's just been one of those can't stop smiling kind of days.
Great friends, great family, great conversation, great adventure....another token of the journey to discover my true potential.
One day I'll be a powerful player in this world. Just you wait and see.... ;)

Pic of the day.....

A highlight of the birthday weekend, the "happiest 5k" on earth.  And the reminder that everyone needs a little color (and flare) in their lives.  :)

Ups & Downs

It's kind of strange how quickly things can change to some extent. This past week felt like one of the busiest I've had in months, there was good stress (excitement), bad stress (overloadddd at work) and barely enough time to take to myself to calm down. It felt nonstop! At one point last night though, once home, with company I realized the buzzing in my brain had stopped. Quiet.
I've wanted to just relax and feel normal again and now that I do I feel a little down....like I'm already missing the hype and excitement and charge I felt all week.
And sometimes looking at Facebook adds fuel to the fire. Like, look what the rest of the world is doing... they all look so happy...
But enough self pity. It is my BIRTHDAY weekend. I will keep Marching on!! And I literally have got to get marching on to all the things this day beholds. Must keep it short. Guest is here.
ciao for nowwwwwww
stay tuned for a birthday weekend wrap up that should surely be interesting (unlike this post kinda was) ;)

And as promised...my photo of the day. I like this picture because it shows promise. Promise that the sun is peaking out of those clouds and shining so bright it shines on through. Beautiful weather and experiences are in store y'all. Peace!